Thirty-four

"Akin ka lang, Ninang Ruth! Walang ibang magmamay-ari sa’yo kundi ako!" Ramdam ko ang panginginig ng kanyang kamay habang hinawakan ko ito. Nanlilisik ang mga mata ko, puno ng pagnanasa at pag-angkin. Pero sa halip na matakot, marahan lang siyang ngumiti—isang ngiting may halong pangamba… at pagnanasa rin. "Wag ako, Ace," mahinahon niyang tugon, pilit tinatago ang emosyon sa kanyang tinig. "I’m older than you. I’m thirty… habang ikaw, twenty-five pa lang." Ngunit sino bang makakapigil sa puso? Ako si Ace Pattern, dalawampu’t limang taong gulang, isang business tycoon na sanay makuha ang gusto. Lahat ng gusto ko… maliban sa kanya. Si Ninang Ruth. Ang babaeng pinagbabawal mahalin. Ang babaeng dapat kong irespeto, pero mas gusto kong angkinin. Masama bang magmahal sa isang Ninang? Sabi nila, mas masarap daw ang bawal. At ngayong naranasan ko na siya… handa akong sirain ang lahat — kahit ang sarili kong pagkatao —mapasaakin lang siya.

For over thirty years, my wife Janet faked being broke—for her flimsy ex. When our son Asher landed in the hospital, I begged and borrowed from everyone I knew. Still came up fifty bucks short. Janet? Said she was tapped out. So my mom sold off her own meds to cover the bill—never told me. She died without treatment. I handled my mom's funeral alone. When I went to pick up Asher from the hospital, I found a stash of Janet's old shopping receipts. Custom suits. Million-dollar watches. A damn private jet. I grabbed them and stormed off to confront her. Asher cut me off. "Dad, Mr. Sackett's sick. Mom's just helping him out. Why are you freaking out?" I stared at the kid who only lived because my mom died. It felt like something cracked inside me. Janet barely looked up. "Connor's educated. He deserves the finer things. Unlike you—crying over fifty bucks like some househusband. See? I didn't give you the money, and Asher's fine." Fine. If that's how they see it, I'm done with this family.

BLURB Maya Blackwood has spent five years as the perfect wife to a man who doesn't love her. But when a terminal diagnosis gives her only six months to live, Maya finally finds the courage to demand what she's never had: one month of being Alexander's real wife. Alexander Blackwood has spent those same five years resenting the arrangement that tore him from his true love, Isabelle Chen. Now that Isabelle has returned to claim him, he's ready to file for divorce—until Maya makes him an offer he can't refuse without risking a scandal that could destroy his family's reputation. Thirty days. One month to discover whether a loveless marriage can become something real before time runs out. But as Maya and Alexander begin to truly see each other for the first time, secrets, lies, and the manipulations of those who want them apart threaten to steal even this brief chance at happiness. And when Alexander finally learns the devastating truth Maya has been hiding, he must face an impossible question: Is one month enough time to fall in love with someone you've already lost?

After Celine Anderson let her newly-promoted assistant take credit for my billion-dollar project for the ninth time, I handed in my resignation letter. I also refused to show up in the same place as her. Whenever she was interviewed by talk shows as a public figure, I would switch off all the screens in the building. I also got the security guard to stop her from entering even if she brought me a cup of coffee in the middle of a tornado. To see me, she purposely rescheduled three virtual meetings with foreign companies. So, I immediately bought air tickets to leave the country. I blocked her everywhere and formatted the hard disk that contained all of our memories from the past decade. When I was twenty, I studied with her in the university library. When I was twenty-five, I ate the cheapest bread with her when she first started her company. When I was thirty, I finally knew how to let go of things that no longer serve me. On the ninth time I was accused of sleeping my way up, I came across a photo of her and her assistant kissing. Meanwhile, I was sitting at our dining table with food that had turned cold. It turned out that our decade-long relationship had been a joke. However, it was fine. It was not too late to come to my senses.

I gave everything to save my fated mate, Alpha Austen. I even lost our pups. Twice. But he gave all the credit to his adoptive sister, Seraphina. He called me weak. Useless. He always chose her tears over my scars. He even stood by as her poison shattered my wolf spirit. As I lay dying, I watched him hold my killer and whisper, “I know it wasn’t your fault. This was her fate.” Then I opened my eyes. And I was back. Back before it all went wrong. This time, I’m done explaining. Done sacrificing. Right in front of him, I disguised a potion that would sever our mate bond as a "blessing elixir" and held it to his lips. “My love,” I said, “drink this. It’ll help you comfort your poor little sister.” He drank it without a second thought. In thirty days, under the Blood Moon, our mate bond will be severed for good. But only when I was truly gone did he finally regret it. He knelt before me, again and again, calling himself my fated mate. Begging me to take him back.

Ariana Silverio lost her mother about 5 year ago now takes care of her brother and father in her place. Her father Kenneth has been trying to find a job to support his family but with no luck and now decided to ask his brother for help. His brother is the Alpha of Blood Rose pack and will only take his brother back if he becomes his Beta and sadly her father has no choice but to take it. After the moved back not only do they live in the same big pack house as the Alpha but now her and her brother will be in the same private school as the Alpha children. The private school only allows the higher rank children and even the Royal family as well. There are some exception of some witches intending the school as well. How will Ariana going to handle the change in her life? How will she hide about her wolf being different? Prince Marcus Heinrich is the son of King Alexander and Queen Aurora, next in line to be king of the east side packs. He’s the first male white wolf in the family blood line. The white wolf was created to protect the Moon goddess blood line, but no one has seen any sight of the silver wolf in thirty years or more. Will it be Marcus who finds the silver wolf as he is destine to?

On the train back home, I found a scathing post online. [My sister-in-law is pushing thirty but isn’t married yet. She comes home all the time. Would you be bothered by it?] The comments were numerous and ran the gamut of opinions. The post got wildly popular, and there was an argument between the poster and commenters. [It’s bad enough that she won’t get married. She wants to stay with us when she’s home. Shouldn’t she feel ashamed? I’m at the end of my rope. She even drank all my lemonade last time she was here. I really hate her. [She has no boundaries. I’ve been wanting to teach her a lesson for ages. I turned her bedroom into my walk-in closet. Let’s see if she can still stay here.] When I got to this point, I closed the post. It was lucky that I bought the house where my parents and brother live. Because of that, I would not be at risk of losing my own room. But when I got out of the train station, I received a text from my mother. [Sweetie, I booked you a hotel room. You don’t have to come home and stay this time.]

He chose his mistress on our anniversary. He didn't know I was already planning my funeral. For three years, I was the perfect wife. I swallowed the insults from his family. I bore the guilt of our daughter’s death. Everyone blamed me. Yet, I loved Mateo Santiago with everything I had. Until the day I found out the truth. On the same day I discovered I was pregnant again, I learned my husband was expecting a child with another woman: my own step-aunt, Valentina. And worse? I finally discovered that he was the one responsible for our first daughter's death, not me. I didn't scream. I didn't fight. I simply texted him: "Your birthday is in a month. I’ll prepare a gift you’ll never forget." Thirty days later, Mateo Santiago watched my car burn at the bottom of a cliff. He buried an empty casket and cried for a wife he thought he loved. But Isabella Romano didn't die that day. She just disappeared. I was not alone anymore. I had another life growing inside me but then I stumbled upon a stranger. A stranger shadows feared. Dante Galante.

“I-I’m near, Zamir. Something is about to… come.” Claudia pierced a soft moan ahead of time. The man’s lips twitched into a curve. “For the next thirty days, I won’t let my maids clean the bathroom.” Claudia’s softest voice warmth Zamir’s heart. “Why?” “Your fingerprints are all over the place. I want to keep all your traces because thinking about you is making me feel aroused real good, Claudia.” *** Claudia Woods was a third year pre-med student. She wanted to be a Doctor due to her grandmother who was sick yet she has no control on the situations and casualties entering their lives. Unfortunately, her grandmother was diagnosed with a terminal disease and Claudia was forced to stop studying and just focused on working. Not until an unfortunate event occured, her grandmother died and the loan sharks were running after her. Yet destiny was a playful one. Claudia met the handsome Greek God-looking Zamir Trian Cassano, a person who will be a huge instrument that will change her life entirely. She thought that Zamir was just a normal person who had a lot of securities in his mansion yet as time goes by, Claudia soon found out the vicious man’s identity, leaving her a lot of doubts, horrific experiences along with his dark past and scars buried six-feet below the ground.

Alicia’s wedding once made headlines across all of New Yorke. The man who put the ring on her finger was Matteo Vitale, the youngest Don of the Vitale family. She was not a socialite heiress. She was a lawyer who had won countless cases for powerful families. She was also five years older than her husband. When Matteo was thirty and at the peak of his career, Alicia was already thirty-five. Back then, Matteo told her that age would never be a problem between them. As long as she wanted him, he would never let her go for the rest of his life. But in the fifth year of their marriage, a young woman burst into her office and dropped a divorce agreement on her desk. “I heard you’re the best divorce lawyer on New Yorke’s East Side. There isn’t a divorce case you can’t win, right? “I want to hire you to help my boyfriend get a divorce from his wife. “My boyfriend says his wife is thirty-five now. She smells old. Every time he touches her, he feels sick.” She opened the divorce agreement with practiced ease. She looked first at the names, as she always did. [Husband: Matteo Vitale [Wife: Alicia Leon] Her fingers paused for a brief moment. She was Alicia Leon!